Question

Nadia tossed a number cube, with faces numbered 1 to 6, in the air 60 times. It came up 6 exactly 12 times. Determine the experimental probability and theoretical probability of the cube coming up 6. Explain why it is reasonable that those two values are different.

Answer 1

The experimental probability is 12/60 or 1/5. This is what you got from your experiment. The theoretical probability is 1/6 because in theory, with 6 equally possible outcomes, the cube should land on each side 1 in every 6 times. It makes sense that they are different because when you roll a cube many times it isnt going to land exactly 1/6 of the time on each side, the theoretical probability is just what the cube should roll on approximately, the experimental probability and the theoretical probability should be similar, but not always the same.